'Dark Beauty's' flowers are large and, to me, ethereally beautiful with their flushed rose petal/spurs.
Being a foliage nut, the remarkable dark purple band around the perimeter of each small leaflet produced by E. grandiflorum var. higoense 'Bandit' grabbed my eye immediately.
Darrell notes that he has received this clone from several sources, finally tracing its origin to We-Du Nursery who purchased it from Japan in 1981. This is, however, quite different from the clone he got from them in 1992. After many years of trialing it with other forms, he felt it distinct enough to name.
This is on my 'must have' list.
E. grandiflorum 'Lavender Lady' was a 2000 Cobblewood® introduction.
A spontaneous cross between E. sempervirens 'Violet Queen' and E. grandiflorum 'Silver Queen' that appeared in Harold Epstein's garden, 'Lavender Lady' inherited its marvelous red coloration from the former and numerous leaflets from the latter.
Imagine the impact of this mass of wide-spreading, low-growing leaves...you hardly need flowers!
But, 'Lavender Lady' also gives flowers - panicles of lavender flowers with white spur tips.
It will be about eight inches tall (20.32 cm) in bloom and doesn't produce a second flush of growth.
E. grandiflorum 'Silver Queen' is the parent of many cultivars. Darrell says it's often incorrectly labeled as 'White Queen', which is a totally different plant.
Forming a mound about seven inches tall (17 cm) in bloom, it has a second leaf flush that brings it to about eleven inches (27 cm). New foliage is flushed with purple in spring.
'Silver Queen's flowers are large, silver-white with rose highlights on the inner sepals...lovely.
Epimedium grandiflorum spp. koreanum
Subspecies koreanum is native to Hokkaido and North Honshu in Japan, North and South Korea and Northeast China. These are deciduous plants with medium to large leaflets that Darrell thinks are likely a bit hardier than the species - at least to USDA zone 4 and possibly 3.
